Suspected New People’s Army (NPA) members ambushed a convoy of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) in Arakan town, North Cotabato early Wednesday.
Ten PSG members were traveling to Cagayan de Oro City on board 2 vehicles when they encountered the suspected rebels who set up a checkpoint in the boundary of Arakan and Davao City, said PSG spokesperson Col. Mike Aquino.
The clash also left four PSG members wounded.
Three of them will be flown to Davao City for treatment.
The gunmen, numbering about 50, were reportedly wearing military uniforms.
“They saw individuals pretending to hold a legit check point, it even said Task Force Davao. They spotted that the group was fake. When they detected the group weren’t really soldiers, they started exchanging gunfire,” Aquino told ABS-CBN News.
“The NPA eventually withdrew and shot dead a member of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (the armed state-sanctioned local civilian militia) identified as Benjamin Pandia.” Pandia reportedly introduced himself as a CAFGU member to the rebels after mistaking them for soldiers.
The reported ambush came just days after the Philippine National Police revealed intelligence reports that the NPA will allegedly mount an attack in Davao region.
Re-published from ABS-CBN News
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